


The New Kid

by cherrycola94



Category: Batman and Robin (Comics), Batman: Death in the Family (Movie 2020), Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010), DCU, DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Robin (Comics)
Genre: Brothers, Family Dynamics, Friendship, Gen, bros being bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:01:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29378922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrycola94/pseuds/cherrycola94
Summary: Jason Todd's first impression of Tim Drake is... not what he expected. To be honest, he doesn't even know what he expected.
Relationships: Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne
Comments: 3
Kudos: 104





	The New Kid

When Bruce asks him to come to the manor and meet the new Robin, Jason swears he’s kidding or playing some kind of twisted prank on him. So when Jason starts receiving calls on a phone number he swears he didn’t share with anyone, he starts to take Bruce's offer a little more seriously. On one particularly lazy Saturday afternoon, one where the air in Gotham doesn't reek of crime and desperation, Jason says _y’know what? fuck it_ as he pulls on his motorcycle helmet and hits the road.

After a half hour of riding along narrow streets and second guessing himself, he’s now on the overstuffed leather couch in Wayne Manor’s sitting room, anxiously jiggling his leg up and down as he waits for Bruce to bring in his "replacement." The steaming tea on the coffee table poured by Alfred remains untouched, his nerves jittery enough without the caffeine. He wishes Alfred would stay and do all the talking for him, but according to him it's a "personal matter" and "your relationship will not heal until they speak."

When Bruce enters, he stands up lightning fast (praying he doesn’t accidentally knock over the tea and stain the expensive Persian rug). Though Alfred just told him to talk, words escape Jason. Now finally in a situation he's dreamed of being in for months, the eloquently thought-out lines have been erased from his brain. Bruce seems to be struggling to word the right thing and the men end up not saying anything to each other. Only a nod and a grunted "'Ello"s. They keep their distance, not trusting the other's emotions. Jason suspects that no matter how much they’ve missed each other, things will never be the same between them. Just before Jason opens his mouth in an attempt to break the tension, Bruce waves in another person.

And Jason stares.

This kid can’t be more than fourteen, fifteenish. Maybe even younger if Jason’s willing to think about that possibility. This person's lighter than he was at fifteen-- maybe about 120 pounds, give or take. The replacement’s short too, built like a horse jockey. He looks weak, but Jason knows firsthand that size is an illusion easily made up for by skill. And if he's already Robin he must be skilled enough to take any criminal on.

So this kid's stature is underwhelming (Jason can practically hear Dick’s voice chanting the word "whelmed" in his mind). But there’s something off about how the kid looks at him. The stare he's receiving pierces beyond his eyes and into his mind, a stare that reads all your thoughts like a book. The same look Jason remembers seeing in puddles when he lived on the streets. For some reason alarms ring in Jason’s head, telling him to get out while he can. 

The kid doesn’t look like he wants to be here either. His body points subtly to the door. He stands suspended slightly on his toes, like a bird soundlessly about to take flight at the slightest disturbance.

Bruce doesn’t seem like he can take any of the deafening silence so he introduces the kid as Tim Drake. The first and (hopefully) only person to have ever cracked the complex case of Batman’s secret identity. The third young man to ever take on the mantle of Robin. He then clears his throat after Tim’s impressive introduction and leaves awkwardly. Jason wishes he could follow him out through the dark oak door.

Jason slowly sticks his hand out, trying not to startle the new Robin. Tim’s eyes flick downwards, Jason can practically feel his stare burning into the faint scars covering his right hand. The same hand that pulled gun triggers and stabbed scumbag criminals. Just as Jason decides to lower his hand, that this whole introduction thing was stupid and pointless, Tim shakes it with the grip of a CEO.

“Hello,” Tim says. His voice is higher than Jason expected. He sounds like the kid you’d vote in as valedictorian for a middle school graduation-- cool and calm.

“Hi,” Jason echoes. For a moment, Tim’s eyes flash with an unknown emotion but the moment’s now passed and he looks like a normal nervous kid again. They don't talk much, only some stiff comments about basic Batman training and how well Tim's been adjusting to his new identity.

And as Jason leaves the manor, he can’t shake off Tim Drake's hungry look.

How he looked like he’d do anything to prove his worth. 

Jason understood that look and he decides they might actually be able to get along, if they could have a proper conversation with each other.

**Author's Note:**

> wow this is probably one of my shortest pieces yet haha


End file.
